


Underdog

by mikesassmith



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-03-26 13:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19007140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikesassmith/pseuds/mikesassmith
Summary: After the events of Endgame the Avengers are called to be Grand Marshals at the Boston Marathon where Tony develops an infatuation with one of the runners.





	1. Patriots Day

**Author's Note:**

> The events are post-endgame, only in this timeline Tony and Natasha are alive, he is also single (sorry pepper! love you!). This is all fantasy, so if there is a factual error, I apologize. Also, Allison is based on me, I am an avid distance runner who has run the Boston Marathon, so a lot of her experiences are based on mine. Enjoy!

It was another scorcher in Boston this morning. The past three Patriots’ Days in Beantown had been particularly unkind to Allison, and all she wanted was for 2019 to be different. This was her first time to toe the line in Hopkinton in two years, as she was dealing with a nagging overuse injury the previous year, and as luck would have it, the previous year had practically hypothermic conditions.

“Oh well,” she partially breathed out as she shuffled in with the other elite women. This was what marathon running, and the Boston Marathon in particular was all about, overcoming adversity. 26.2 miles is a long way to run, and a lot could go wrong. 

She was a seasoned marathoner despite being 24 years of age. She’d always had a love of the longer distances since she was in high school. Coming in to be the top 10k runner her freshman year at Texas Tech University, in fact, she still held the school record of 31:35. It wasn’t long after that that the Bowerman Track Club had begun to recruit her, and not 5 months after graduating was she making her marathon debut in the New York Marathon with a 2:24 to place third. She had experienced nothing but success until CIM in December of 2017, a calcaneal stress fracture had put her out for nearly 5 months, and her comeback race in Houston had been less than satisfactory, barely squeaking out a top 10 placement with a 2:31 performance. Her nerves were high going into this race, any marathon runner knew that the Boston Marathon was a special race. The oldest running annual marathon in the world, famous for its steep net downhill, the Wellesley scream tunnel, and the infamous Heartbreak Hill, Boston wasn’t designed to be easy.

She eyed her training partner, Shalane Flanagan as she strolled over to her spot on the line. Shalane was a veteran distance runner with Bowerman, with several Olympic medals at distances from the 5k to the marathon, she had been Allison’s rock and guiding light since she stepped foot on Nike’s World Campus in Portland.

“Elite women to the start!” Dave McGivilliray’s familiar voice rang out over the megaphone. The race director stuck out like a sore thumb clad in his blue and yellow pullover that had the B.A.A. unicorn on the back. He paced back and forth across the newly touched up start line, urging the elites to hustle, never mind the fact that they were about to race 26.2 miles at a pace faster than most people can run one mile.

After what seemed like an eternity, they were all lined up and ready to go. Allison made her final adjustments to make sure everything was just so. She pulled her dark ponytail tight, adjusted her red and black crop and bib so that they wouldn’t annoy her, and double-checked her laces to make sure they were secure. Her fingers were poised over the start button on her Garmin watch, and her golden eyes went dark as she dialed in to focus on the road ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony rubbed his temples as the black town car turned onto Boylston and began wading through the crowds to reach the finish line. Another long night of tinkering had gotten the best of him as he had almost completely forgotten that the city of Boston had asked him and the rest of the Avengers to be the grand marshals at the Boston Marathon that morning. 

He truly was honored, they had been invited ever since they had responded to the terrorist attack in 2013, but as luck would have it, the Avengers had to be called away every other time.

“Tony?” 

Tony looked up to see Steve looking at him with concern, he did his best to hide the fact that he was exhausted and shot him the flashiest of grins.

“What’s up, Cap?”

“You’re sure you’re up for this?”

“That’s rich coming from an actual fossil,” Tony leaned back and let the grin fade into a smirk.

Tony leapt out of the car the moment it came to a stop, followed closely by Steve, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce. They were greeted by a small man that was wearing the same blue and yellow pullover that the other staff members seemed to be wearing.

“Mr. Stark,” the small man called out as he ran up to the group.

“Mr. Keflezighi,” Tony accepted his outstretched hand and shook it firmly.  
This was Tony’s first time meeting 2014 Boston Marathon champ, Meb Keflezighi, but he had heard all about the American Olympian’s comeback win the year after the attack. He remembered thinking “what a great ‘fuck you’ that is to bad guys all around.”

“I’m a huge fan of the way you run and stick it to terrorists and stuff,” he said casually, adjusting his sunglasses as he looked off into the distance.

Meb was at a loss for words, he couldn’t believe that Iron Man actually knew his name.

“Yeah, I never really understood the concept of distance running, I still don’t. But I do love a good comeback.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark,” Meb could almost successfully hid the blush that was creeping up his neck. “I see there are five of you, on the itinerary it says six…”

And like clockwork the sky began to darken.

The five avengers groaned in unison.

“Ah yes, one of us has a bit of a god complex, and because of that he has no real concept of time,” Tony rolled his eyes as he waited for the big entrance.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the ground feet away from where the group was gathered, followed by a deafening clap of Thunder. Emerging out of the chaos was none other than Thor Odinson wielding Mjolnir as could’ve been predicted.

“What did I miss?” The golden haired demi-god flashed a smile to the awe-stricken crowd gathered around the finish line.

“Tony has so graciously accepted the invitation to be the grand marshals of the Boston Marathon,” Clint remarked with a hint of shade.

“What’s a marathon?” Thor shot Tony a look of confusion.

“It’s when humans here on Earth run 26.2 miles,” he let a smug grin cross his face, “for fun.”

“Sounds highly inefficient, why not just fly?” Thor let out a hearty laugh. 

“Yeah, well, humans are highly inefficient, sunshine. You’re going to have to get used to that.” Tony turned back to Meb who was still visibly shaken from Thor’s entrance.

“Right, so what exactly is our job here?”

“Runners! On your marks! Get set!”

BANG!

The mass herd of elite women took off stampeding down the steep downhill that led out of Hopkinton and would make up the first four miles of the race.

As easy as it would’ve been to storm to the lead at the start, Allison was very familiar with Boston, and knew that the front runner never won because going all out on the downhill would surely kill your quads later on in the race. She took her foot off the gas and tucked in to the middle of the lead pack like coach Jerry had told her to do.

She had her plan, she had made her adjustments for the heat, now all she needed was a supportive crowd to push her to the finish. 

As the lead pack passed the 5k marker she took a look at her Garmin, she had crossed it in 16:50, right on pace to hit her PR.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before he knew it, Tony found himself sandwiched between Bruce and Steve in the vehicle that was filming the lead pack. Every once and a while the camera would pan up to him and the others and the three of them would banter with each other or throw out some facts about the runners fed to them by people in the studio.

“Ah yes, we can see Shalane Flanagan tucking in with the lead pack, a Boston native and a favorite in this race, she sure does look comfortable here at the 6 mile mark.” Steve chimed, following the voice prompting him in his ear piece.

“Tell you what Tony, it sure is nice to witness this testament to the human spirit.”

“You got that right, Steve.” Tony put on his flashiest stage smile. “Everyone loves an underdog.”

“Is that right, Tony?” Bruce finally contributed after nearly forty minutes of silence. “Where’s the underdog here?”

“I didn’t expect you to catch this one, Bruce,” Tony smirked at his friend. “But if you’ll notice there seems to be an American closing the gap between the two lead packs.”

“Who is that?” Steve stood up to get a better look at what was going on out on the course, and was promptly pulled down by an unamused Bruce Banner.

Tony held his hand up to his opposite ear to better hear the voice that was coming through his earpiece.

“Looks like it’s the young Bowerman protégé, Allison Graddy,” Tony continued to listen to the stream of data coming through. “Though she may be a young marathoner, she is hardly a newcomer to the sport as this is her fifth shot at the distance after a successful collegiate career with several national appearances at the 10 and 5k at Hayward, she is looking to make her third podium appearance here in Boston today.”

As the camera panned away, he blocked his mic and turned to Steve, “what the actual hell did I just say?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere around the 10k mark Allison had gotten into a groove and was able to rejoin her training partner in the lead pack.

It was all part of the plan, while she wanted to podium so bad, the goal was to make sure that an American won. With her, Shalane, former Boston campion Des Linden, and Jordan Hasay working together near the front, she was certain that they would pull it off.

10 miles in and the heat was starting to become a factor, but they hadn’t dropped pace like Allison had expected them to. She was playing mind games like crazy, alternating between counting the number of steps Shalane was taking in front of her, and when they would switch leads so the others could draft she would count the number of dogs on the sidelines that they passed. 

She could hear the screams of the women of Wellesley College from a mile away. It was a tradition in the Boston Marathon for non-elites to run over to the girls and kiss them. Seeing as that would be counter-productive to what she was trying to do, she opted to admire the funny signs, including a full-body length sign that said, “Run faster and I’ll drop the sign” which was held by a girl who seemed to be wearing nothing behind it.

The Wellesley scream tunnel signaled the halfway point, which meant that they were about to enter the town of Newton. While the Newton Hills were notorious for chewing up and spitting out runners, Allison looked forward to it. After the 14 miles of solid downhill running, she welcomed the break, she was much better at ascending than descending.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Looks like we are entering the town of Newton, boys,” Steve started off, “Apparently notorious for having the most elevation gain throughout the race, and…”

He held his hand up to his ear to better hear the person telling him what to say.

“Capped off at the 20 mile mark by the infamous ‘Heartbreak Hill’. What do you think, Bruce?”

“Everyone seems to be running really strong despite the heat, there have been looks of discomfort here and there, but you can’t tell based on the pace these ladies are maintaining.” Bruce did his best to sound enthusiastic, but he just wasn’t into these types of situations. Too many people. Too crowded. Too many things could go wrong. He also didn’t know anything about distance running, he was only here because Tony had begged him.

“Looks like Allison and Shalane have made a surge to fall in behind lead runner, Edna Kiplagat of Kenya.” Tony chimed excitedly.

Like his colleagues, he hardly knew anything about distance running, but even he had to admit that he was fascinated by what he was witnessing.

It was hard enough just to complete 26.2 miles, let alone try to do it at a blistering pace. And there was strategy at play here. He did love a good strategy game, and he was starting to see what was going on.

He had started to notice a methodical switching of places between the American runners, and it finally dawned on him that the frontrunner was blocking the wind for the rest. They were conserving their group energy to better the chances of having a high placing American. 

For the good of the team and not the self, it was a concept that didn’t come to Tony naturally, but with the help of his friends and colleagues, he had started to understand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As if by some miracle dark clouds had started to roll in, Allison could feel a significant drop in temperature and smiled. She tapped Jordan’s shoulder to signal that she was ready to take over leading the pack.

“I think I’m going to push pace, if that’s okay!” She yelled between breaths.

A nod from the others pushed her to the front and upped the ante. They were closing in on Heartbreak, and she was certain she could put them in a good spot to make a move in the last 10k of the race, which was completely downhill once again.

A light rain began to fall, and she felt as if she were floating. Heartbreak Hill was steepest hill of the race, and lasted for nearly a quarter of a mile. Allison never faltered, she attacked it vigorously, inspiring her teammate and the rest of the Americans to do the same. She took another look at her Garmin, which showed that they were right on pace for 2:22. It looked as if they were going to negative split the race, and if you could negative split Boston, there was a decent chance that you could win it.

She pushed and pushed to the top of the hill, looking back to encourage her teammates.

An ancient distance runner proverb once suggested that the marathon wasn’t just one race, it was in fact, two races: a 20 miler and a 10k. They had finally reached the top of this monstrous hill, which signaled that the first race was over, and a new one was beginning.

As if on queue, off to their left there was a Boston Police Officer who shouted, “it’s all downhill from here!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Here they come over the top of Heartbreak, and it’s Kiplagat in the lead with Graddy closing the gap.”

“Tony, do you think we can expect a move from the young American anytime soon?” Steve said never taking his eyes off of the course.

“Well Steve, I think it’s a pretty fair bet that Allison will make a move in the next 8k, whether it’ll be sooner or later, I really can’t say.”

Tony surveyed the Kenyan who was leading at this point. She was still running strong, but he could tell that her weak point was managing the headwind, he wouldn’t be surprised if Allison sat back and waited until closer to the finish line to make her move.

He honestly couldn’t believe that he was this invested, in the grand scheme of things this wasn’t really a productive use of his time, but he was really moved by the experience. The constant crowd along the sidelines, how they seemed to pull the runners along. How despite hindering their own progress, the runners kept helping each other along, and how it was as much of a mental game as it was a physical one. He was looking forward to seeing how this played out.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Allison had all but dropped her teammates. She hadn’t really intended to, but she was feeling amazing, and if she happened to be the chosen one, so be it.

She was steadily closing the gap between her and Kiplagat, passing under the “Boston Strong” overpass she knew that her window of opportunity for making her move was closing.

With the Citgo sign, which signaled a mile to go in her sight, she took stock of her situation. 

How good did she feel?

Pretty damn good. There was a pretty strong headwind, but she had trained in Lubbock, TX for years. This was nothing for her. Could she start a kick now and maintain it?

Absolutely.

She could see Kiplagat was struggling, but did she have enough distance to go to hold pace and catch her? Or was she going to have to kick it up a notch?

“Why risk it?” She figured, and began to ramp up the pace to 5:05 min/mile.

She passed the gigantic Citgo sign right on Edna Kiplagat’s heels. She could hear the Kenyan’s labored breathing and knew that her time was approaching. She made a move to the outside and matched her opponent step for step.

“Check,” she thought to herself.

She didn’t do anything drastic, she had after all been planning this moment for a while. She kept pace, and let nature run its course. The two of them flew towards the only two turns in the race.

“Right on Hereford, left on Boylston,” she kept repeating to herself, focusing on nothing but the lead car in front of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wow! What a race this is turning out to be!” Steve said halfway rehearsed, but also halfway genuinely excited.

“I don’t think we’ve seen a race like this since Alberto Salazar outkicked Dick Beardsley in 1982, right Tony?”

There was silence followed by a hearty chuckle.

“I’m sorry Bruce, I honestly can’t get over the name ‘Dick Beardsley’.”

Bruce had never rolled his eyes so hard in his life, and with that they made a sharp right turn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as Allison predicted, she began to pull away from Kiplagat as they made the first turn onto Hereford. A deafening roar pulled Allison out of her trance as she realized where she was for the first time.

A quarter of a mile from the finish line, and it would be impossible for her to not PR, which was her number one personal goal. If she gave it all she got a 2:19 would be in her grasp, and that would be a course record as well as an American record, but she wasn’t thinking about that now.

As she made the final left turn onto Boylston she heard another roar as she looked over her shoulder, Kiplagat was giving it everything she had to hang with her.

Allison didn’t panic, she steadily increased the pace as the finish line came into view.

A metallic taste filled Allison’s mouth as she once again found another gear and pushed the pace even more. Her lungs were on fire, her legs began to tremble. She was easing past her lactate threshold, truly a suicide pace.

Edna Kiplagat made one more surge to put the two neck and neck. 

“Very well, a sprint finish it shall be,” she thought to herself.

She pushed again, dropping Kiplagat by a few inches. She was so close to the finish, she could taste it.

“C’mon Allison, last one, fast one!” She couldn’t tell if she had said that out loud or not. Oh well, it didn’t matter. She began to pull away further and further.

“Just a few more steps…”

She practically leapt across the finish line to break the tape, victorious. She looked up at the time, 2:18:56, and couldn’t hold back the tears as she was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

“ALLISON GRADDY WITH THE WIN IN BOSTON AND A NEW AMERICAN RECORD OF 2:18:56!” She heard someone yell through a megaphone. She couldn’t even begin to figure out who it was, her vision started to blur and her legs began to give out.

A strong arm reached out and caught her, she looked up to get a glimpse of the stranger, but it took some time for her vision to focus.

“C-Captain America?” She sputtered.

He picked her up effortlessly and draped an American flag across her shoulders.

“Congratulations miss Graddy, that was one hell of a race,” he beamed at her.

“Language, Steve!” A snide voice just out of her periphery teased.

She snapped around to see none other than Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers.

Bruce rushed up to her in an instant and checked her vitals.

“You’re okay, I think it’s just sheer muscle fatigue and dehydration,” He concluded.

“I concur, somebody get me a beer.” She said as she collapsed into Steve’s arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony was no stranger to having honors bestowed upon him, but he truly was honored when Meb had granted him the task of awarding the medals to the top three men and women finishers. Partially because he was an outsider to the distance running community and they had been so warm and inviting, also partially because it felt like he was going to meet his hero for the day.

Apparently the men’s race was also exciting, with another American record set by Scott Fauble, but Clint, Natasha, and Thor were covering that one. Plus the end wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the women’s race, and Tony did love a little drama.

With 6 medals in his hand, he walked up the steps to the podium and congratulated each of the men before draping a very large unicorn-shaped medal around each of their necks He then walked over to where the top three women were.

They were made up of another young American, Jordan Hasay, in third. She had finished about two minutes after the first two ladies with an impressive time of 2:21. Of course, Kenyan Edna Kiplagat had the silver. He hugged each of the women after awarding them and told them what a wonderful job they had done.

Then it was Allison’s turn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Allison was a bundle of nerves as she watched Tony Stark award each of the women in front of her. She knew the Avengers were going to be there, but she had no idea that she was actually going to receive the first place medal from Iron Man. She had a bit of a crush on him since he and the rest of the gang had saved the day in Boston 6 years prior. She was only spectating that day, as she was only in town to run the B.A.A. 5k the Saturday before Patriots Day. He had saved so many lives that day, including her own.

She had never forgotten that day, which made the events of today mean so much more.

He turned to face her, holding her prize for her stick her head through.

“You wear that with pride, Allison. You were a hero out there today.” He pulled her into a hug that sent electric shocks through her body. She couldn’t tell if it was from fatigue or attraction, but either way she felt something.

When they pulled away from each other he gave her a soft look before kissing her on the cheek and turning away to walk back down the steps. Before he reached the bottom of the steps he turned back and winked at her before finishing the journey.


	2. Hungry Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long, computer issues. :(   
> Also, I forgot to mention at the beginning, that in this world, Natasha is still alive, and Steve came back immediately after going back in time. Enjoy!

There was nothing she had wanted to do more than to take a nice, long hot shower. After the awards ceremony she was whisked off to do a number of interviews, and take a million photos, she hardly even got to sit down.

Hell, 2 hours passed before she even got a chance to think about eating, or to even see her loved ones. Her mom had been a teary-eyed mess at lunch, and her father just sat there beaming with pride. She had been working for this for a good chunk of her life without even realizing it, and finally everything had paid off. She had secured herself a spot at the Olympic Trials next February with a world standard qualifying time. All she had to do was podium there and she would be representing the U.S. in Tokyo in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Now, with the steaming water from the shower hitting her skin softly she finally felt the full weight of her achievement. A sub-2:19 marathon was crazy by any standard, but a sub-2:19 in Boston was absolutely wild. A race that had so much history, and means so much to a lot of people, she had never dreamed of being its victor that day. Her only goal was to help pace the others, and maybe snag a PR. Today was all about redemption, and she had more than done that, she was back and still improving. It almost brought her to tears as she was suddenly overcome with emotion, for the first time she was actually able to feel her emotions.

It didn’t hurt that she got to do it all in front of the Avengers either. It had been a dream if hers to meet them, and winning had been a convenient way of making that happen.

She still remembered Patriots Day 2013 like it was yesterday. 

It was a sunny, hot Boston that year, but the course was lined with thousands of spectators like it was every year. She had been in town all week for the B.A.A. 5k, which was ran that Saturday, but was excited to get to spectate the Marathon. Every distance runner’s dream was to qualify for this prestigious race, which was no easy task, and she wouldn’t miss witnessing it for the world.

She cheered as decorated marathoner Lelisa Desisa won the title that day. She had decided to stay a little longer, the magic of the day and the events had taken hold of her, and she couldn’t help but stay and witness the ultimate test of the human spirit. As runner after runner ran past, she stuck her hand out hoping to get as many high fives in as she could.

That’s when the first bomb went off, sending her flying out onto the course.

She didn’t quite understand what was going on, the ringing in her ears made it nearly impossible to focus, and the chaos that ensued only left her scared and confused in the middle of Boylston Street.

That’s when he had flown in, Iron Man. Followed closely by the others. Black Widow and Captain America on Cap’s bike, Thor from the sky wielding Mjolnir, Hulk came clambering in from above, and Hawkeye took refuge at the top of a tall building to keep an eye on the situation.

Unbeknownst to the public, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been on to this small terrorist organization for some time, and had been on standby as they were waiting nearby for the tip.

People were down, there was blood everywhere, Allison couldn’t tell how many, but there were definitely a few casualties, but the Avengers didn’t hesitate to take action along with the B.A.A. medical staff.

She took a step backwards and tripped over something that caused her to land with a heavy thud. She reached out to grab what it was, and recoiled as she felt something warm and wet. She looked at her hand in horror as it was covered in blood. She squinted to get a better look at what it was that she had tripped over.

She stifled a horrified scream into her arm as she saw what it was. 

It had been the body of a boy that couldn’t have been older than 11.

What happened next had been a blur, thankfully she wasn’t injured, but she was definitely in shock. She picked herself up and wandered aimlessly out into the street, trying to get away from the destruction.

Everyone was scattered, and she was just looking for some direction. That’s when the second bomb went off, knocking her off her feet.

“Ma’am!” A voice had shouted to her right.

She whipped her head around to see Iron Man hovering mere feet away. 

“Are you injured?” The mask rose to reveal the concerned face of Tony Stark.

She took a minute to gather herself.

Legs? Good.

Torso? Good

Arms? Good.

Head?

She reached up to feel a warm, sticky liquid oozing out of a wound on the right side of her head.

She decided that she wasn’t in any immediate danger and shook her head.

“Good! Get out of here!” He pointed down Boylston, past the finish line. Just then a third blast went off nearby, and Tony raised his shield to protect her from incoming debris. “Now!”

She took off down the road with no real plan, she just kept putting one foot in front of the other, not stopping for anything.

Finally she made it to a hospital in downtown Boston, which had begun to steadily fill up with runners and spectators alike. 

She immediately ran inside to donate blood and help out any way she could. She would never forget that day. The devastation, the death, but also the response and how locals and runners alike leapt into action, led by the avengers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony had done all that was asked of him, he had been the grand marshal, conducted that ridiculous commentary, presented the awards, made most of the press appearances, and even went to visit his alma mater, MIT. So what made him linger in Boston that evening?

In all honesty, everyone was having a good time, the marathon festivities had everyone a little wound up, so they had stayed. Now they found themselves in a dimly lit restaurant with a bar, enjoying a few drinks as well as each other’s company.

His mind kept wandering back to the race that morning. He hadn’t expected to be so captivated, but he was all in rooting for the young American. 

“What was her name again? Alex? Allison? Allison! That’s it,” he wondered silently to himself. He didn’t have to be an expert in distance running to know that what she did today was big. At this point in athleticism, breaking American records were a dime a dozen in any sport, and she had executed her plan flawlessly.

“Isn’t that today’s victor?” Thor’s thunderous voice cut into Tony’s train of thought.

He followed Thor’s eyes as they rested upon a slender brunette who was limping up to the bar, accompanied by several women, who Tony recognized as the other American runners from earlier.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Tony uttered. Without thinking, he began to gather himself as he stood.

“Tony?” Steve raised an eyebrow at his notoriously amorous colleague.

“Hmm?” Tony feigned innocence.

“What are you doing?” All of their eyes were on him now, most of them shooting him a disapproving look. Except for Thor, who was smiling and nodding as if to egg him on.

“Hey now, it’s not what you think,” he shot another glance over his shoulder at the girl as she settled in at a high top table by the bar with the three other women and took another step in that direction.

“Sure it isn’t,” Natasha gave him a knowing smile. 

“Is it so wrong of me to want to congratulate her?”

“I seem to recall you already congratulating her,” Natasha countered. 

“Semantics.” He said with a shrug before turning on his heel and migrating in Allison’s direction.

“There he goes again,” Steve sighed, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head. “Some things never change.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allison had kindly declined several invites to multiple post-race parties that evening, all she wanted was a lowkey evening with her teammates at a bar that involved carbohydrates and beer.

The soreness had begun to really set in, which made getting ready a process. Skinny jeans were her best option at this point, though not easy to slip into, once they were on the compression made them ideal for recovery. She decided on wearing her Van Halen 5150 1986 tour t-shirt underneath her red and black Bowerman Track Club jacket. She didn’t even bother to do anything with her hair, she just let it fall down to the midsection of her back in natural dark brown waves. And at last, the piece de resistance, she shamelessly donned her first place medal, as it was tradition to wear your race medal all day after.

The phone rang at a quarter ‘til 7:00. 

“Hello?” Allison did her best to not sound completely drained.

“Allie!” Shalane’s upbeat voice screeched through the earpiece. “You ready to go?”

“Just about, give me a few minutes, I’ll meet you guys down in the lobby.”

She hung up and ventured out into the hallway, immediately seeing the sign for the stairs.

She audibly groaned. The stairs were not going to happen on this day, and waddled off towards the elevator.

She was immediately met with cheers as the elevator doors opened to the lobby. It had been like this everywhere she had been that day post-race, it was safe to say that she was the most loved person in Boston that day.

Once things began to calm down and the crowd began to dissipate, she saw Shalane also in her Bowerman jacket, along with Des Linden and Jordan Hasay, all three grinning at her as she struggled across the lobby.

“So where are we going, champ?” Shalane teased.

“I don’t care, but we’re definitely not walking.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two trains and a cab ride later, the group found themselves back on Boylston, walking into a bar in Back Bay. It was quiet, except for a jukebox that was playing an old Bruce Springsteen song, and it was dimly lit. It was a little packed, but what can you do when the city is accommodating an extra 60,000 people in a weekend.

The good thing about Boston is that the city was almost as obsessed with the race as the runners were, so Allison, Jordan, Des, and Shalane were recognized instantly, and got in with zero problems. They settled down at a high top table by the bar, and the people inside wasted no time buying them drinks.

They were met with pats on the back, rounds of applause, and the occasional person coming up for a picture or an autograph. 

“Hey, isn’t that Captain America?” Shalane’s voice cut in as Allison finished posing with a couple of runners who were also wearing their finisher’s medals from earlier that day.

Allison’s head whipped around to follow Shalane’s line of sight.

“It is! And there’s Thor, Black Widow, and-“ 

Jordan was cut off as she noticed Tony Stark approaching their table. Allison wasn’t sure why, but she felt her heart pounding harder and harder with each step he took.

“Their dinner and drinks are on me,” he winked at the waitress who was in the process of dropping off another round of drinks.

“Now I hate to bother you ladies,” he turned around bearing the most charming grin he could muster, “but I have been a huge fan for about eight hours, and I was wondering if I could maybe grab an autograph.”

Allison had never been more taken aback, but she accepted the picture he was holding out to be signed, which happened to be a picture of himself.

“Charming,” she chuckled as she began to write her message. “Eight hours, eh? Such dedication to stick it out through the highs and lows, but we finally made it.”

“Yes, it was an emotional rollercoaster, I’m not sure I’ll ever recover.” He flashed a coy smile.

She put the finishing touches on her signature and handed it back to him, “always nice to meet a fan.”

His eyes never left her.

“So,” Shalane cut in. “Are the rest of the Avengers here as well?”

“Oh yeah, those squares are back there,” he pointed over his shoulder.

“Do you think they’d be okay with Jordan , Des, and I coming over to say hi?”

Tony was starting to catch on.

“Oh yeah, they love that, go for it.”

Shalane got up and motioned for the others to follow, as she had every intention of leaving Allison and Tony alone together for a bit.

“Your friends aren’t nearly as smooth as they think they are,” Tony slid into the seat next to Allison’s.

“You don’t seem to have any problems with that.”

“That’s right, I don’t.”

Allison felt her whole body tense up, she was having trouble reading the situation, and that wasn’t something that she was used to. It wasn’t outwardly flirtatious, but there was something there.

Tony sensed her uneasiness and decided to back off a bit.

“I actually came over here just to tell you how truly inspiring you were today.” His eyes softened as if to let her know he was being genuine. “Watching you guys work together just to give one of you the chance at winning, while also pushing your body and mind to its limit, that was really something. As of today, you are my new hero.”

“Oh that was far from the limit,” she thought to herself. 

“Thank you,” she said instead, not wanting to come off rude. “That honestly means so much coming from you.

“Why is that?” He asked, knowing full well why, but not wanting to pass on an opportunity to hear about how awesome he was.

“You saved me once, well, many times, but in-person once.”

“Hmm. New York?”

She shook her head.

“Surely not Sokovia?”

“Honestly, it happened less than a quarter of a mile away from where we are now.”

His face lit up with realization, “Oh! 2013!”

“Were you running?”

She shook her head.

“Only spectating. That was back in my college days, so I was more focused on the shorter distances. I had ran the B.A.A. 5K two days before.”

It was then that Tony had really only began to see her. He was finally beginning to realize why Nat was so against him coming over here. Allison was young, not too young, but quite a bit younger than he was. He did some quick math to determine just how old she really was based on when her “college days” were. That put her between 23 and 27 years old now.

It was true, Tony had been attracted to her. She was quite slender from all of the running, had long, dark waves of hair, beautiful, almost golden eyes, and decent facial symmetry, so the science checked out. And normally the age thing would not stop him from shooting his shot, but he had since turned over a new leaf, or so he thought. He truly was conflicted.

Sensing a shift in the mood, Allison decided to change the subject. They talked about frivolous things at first, alma maters and hometowns, but Tony was still very much interested in distance running and how she ended up doing what she was doing.

“So when did you first realize that you had a talent for running?” He mused, taking a sip from his scotch.

“When did you realize that you were genius?”

“I was two years old, and don’t answer a question with a question,” He smirked at her.

“I was nine years old, we had to run the mile in P.E. and I just blew everyone out of the water. Apparently I ran a 5:58 minute mile that day, but I just remember how it felt. Like that’s what I was meant to do. It just felt like I was gliding effortlessly.”

“And then what?” 

“Then track and field, and cross country in junior high, high school, and college.”

“Is Texas Tech a track school or something?” He asked, not believing how into this he was getting.

“At the time it wasn’t, although we’re number one in the nation at the moment, but it’s not because of the distance running team.”

“So why did you decide to go there? Did they offer a specific degree program?”

“No, my entire family has gone there. We all bleed black and red.”

“Mm hmm,” Tony sat back and smiled, “that’s cute. You guys sound close.”

“Especially after losing them to the snap, that was tough,” she looked up at Tony and smiled back, “thank you for bringing them back.”

Tony shuddered when he remembered that day. Ending Thanos had nearly cost him his life, in fact, when he thought about it, there was honestly no way he should’ve survived. Yet here he was.

“Bruce was actually the one that brought everyone back, I just prevented us from losing them again.” Tony rubbed the back of his neck, not used to showing humility.

“Maybe so,” Allison held her gaze, “but he wouldn’t have been able to do that without you.”

“You’re not wrong,” his smirk returning, always so humble.

They chatted for what seemed like ages. Allison talked about her dog back at home, and her life long dream of being a mountain ultra trail runner, while Tony went on and on about upcoming projects he was excited about and his experiences with the Avengers at and outside of “work”.

“No way,” Allison slurred, all of the free drinks starting to get to her.

“Way,” Tony grinned as he took a sip of his single malt scotch.

“Natasha and Bruce?” She looked exasperated at the concept.

“They’ll never admit it, but yes, totally.”

“Can I get you guys anything else?” The waitress cut in.

“I’ll have another one of these.” He pointed to his mostly empty glass, “and she’ll have, what? Cherry vodka sour? Cosmopolitan?”

“Shiner Bock, please.” 

“You’re a beer drinker?” His jaw nearly hit the floor.

“I am. I feel like I told you this after the race.”

Tony took a minute to recall the finish line scene. A sprint finish. Allison falling into Steve’s outstretched arms. Ah, there it was. She had demanded a beer immediately after.

“Well, had I known this, I wouldn’t have been pumping you full of these expensive mixed drinks,” he whined jokingly.

“Are you trying to get me drunk Mr. Stark?” She asked halfway kidding, but she was also being aware of the situation. An older man, with a reputation for being a playboy, who was hard to read, but could also have very much been coming on to her. Here she was alone, as it appeared her teammates had basically disappeared. Maybe she wanted him to come on to her, but she was vulnerable, and she knew it.

“I’m just trying to get to know you, and they won’t let us sit here if we don’t order anything.” He had no intention of getting her drunk or taking advantage, he was honestly just having a good time talking to her.

Allison began to look around the bar, she couldn’t see her friends or the Avengers anywhere.

“Umm, Tony?”

“Hmm?” He mused.

“I think our friends may have ditched us.” She pulled out her phone to check and see if anyone had texted. She had a few unread messages from the groupchat she had going with Shalane, Des, and Jordan.

“Hey, Allison, we’re going to go out with the Avengers,” there was an heart eyes emoji inserted after, “if you need us we’ll be a few bars down.” – Shalane.

“Looks like we might not need to wait up though!” – Des.

“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do!” – Jordan.

Allison rolled her eyes and yawned.

“Looks like our friends we have definitely been ditched.”

“Looks like we might need to get you back to your room,” Tony looked at his watch. It was a quarter past 12, and he knew that after the day she’d had she was most likely fighting to stay awake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony led Allison out of the bar by hand and hailed a cab. She wasn’t drunk, but she was definitely feeling good, and she was absolutely exhausted. Once they were both inside she gave the driver the address to her hotel, and off they went into the night.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes Tony finally broke it, “You look absolutely dead.”

Allison’s half-glazed over eyes flitted awake as the sound snapped her out of her sleep-deprived trance.

“I suppose you could say it’s been a long day. I haven’t had more than 45 minutes to myself all day unless you count the race.”

“God, I bet you’re exhausted.”

“The perks of being the Boston Marathon champ.” She closed her eyes, and once she had dozed off she slumped over onto Tony’s shoulder.

At first the pressure startled him, but once he realized what it as he relaxed and put his arm around her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They pulled into the driveway of the hotel at about a quarter until one.

Tony helped her out of the cab, and after a short squabble over who would pay the cab fare, “Allison, I’m literally a billionaire, let me get it,” he escorted her up to her room.

Once at the door she turned on her heel, and found herself nose and nose with Tony.

“Thank you so much for this evening, I really had a wonderful time. It’s nice getting to know the real Tony Stark.” She blushed as he reached up to brush a loose strand of hair out of her face.

“The pleasure was all mine.” He smiled, and looked up into her eyes, searching for some sign of what to do next. His body was screaming at him to kiss her, but his mind was strongly cautioning against it. He was feeling something for her, but this wasn’t the time nor was it the place. He did, however, want to see her again.

“Allison,” he cleared his throat and held out a napkin as he reached for the pen in his jacket pocket, “would it be okay with you if I got your phone number?”

“Such a gentleman,” she teased as she accepted the pen and napkin from him and began scribbling her number and handed it back to him.

“10 digits, that’s a good sign,” he feigned a sigh of relief. “Good night, Allison.” 

He leaned in slightly, as if to be open to all possibilities, but to also ultimately give Allison all of the power over the situation.

She leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek.

“Good night, Tony.”


	3. Undone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I kept writing and rewriting this chapter because something just felt off about it. But here it is, and I'm still not happy with it, but such is life. On to more exciting chapters.

The faint sound of an alarm clock beeping came through the door and jolted Tony awake.

His back ached like he’d just taken a punch from the Hulk himself. Moaning, he let himself fall back into bed.

Tony’s head hit something hard with a muffled thud.

Huh? That’s not supposed to feel that way.

He looked around in confusion. Where was he?

He found that he had been leaned up against a white door, with his legs sprawled out across a narrow hallway covered with hideous green, paisley carpet.

He let out a heavy sigh as he pulled himself up to his feet.

He looked down. “Same clothes as yesterday,” he said to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was well past the age of being able to fall asleep just anywhere, and he was feeling it now.

“Now, where am I?” He took in his surroundings. The hallway was a soft beige color, lit up by softly lit wall lamps every few feet, and lined with more white doors identical to the one he woke up against. 

He caught a glimpse of himself in one of the vanity mirrors in the hallway and grimaced.

“Not my best look,” he began running his fingers through his hair, trying desperately to smooth down the cowlicks that had popped up over night. His head throbbed from dehydration.

“Jesus, I must be really out of practice, I haven’t been ACTUALLY hungover in years,” he kept fighting with a stubborn patch of hair, unbothered by the sound of a nearby door opening and shutting.

“Tony?” A soft voice behind him caused him to turn on his heel sharply, nearly knocking over the small woman who was about a foot away.

“Shit, I’m so-“ his eyes widened, as he instantly recognized his victim. “Allison!?”

Then it dawned on him, “I’m in your hotel!”

“Very good, Mr. Stark,” she gave him a quizzical look.

“That’s a relief,” he sighed.

“Any particular reason why?” She lugged her suitcase out of her door, making sure that it shut quietly behind her.

“You see, the strangest thing happened,” he narrowed his eyes as he struggled to recall everything that had happened the previous night. “Yeah, I got nothing.”

“You don’t know,” she raised both eyebrows at him skeptically, “why you’re standing in the hallway outside of my hotel room at…” she trailed off as she looked at her watch, “6:00 AM?”

He paused and gave it some thought, trying desperately to remember his thought process the night before.

“Let’s see,” he thought to himself “I came up here to be a gentleman, we said good night and…” 

He supposed he took a minute outside of her door to process things after they parted, and that minute must’ve turned into a few hours as he must’ve just dozed off. He suspected that it probably had something to do with the multiple sleepless nights he’d had that week as he spent his time perfecting his new tactical intelligence system, which would give him portable access to the entire Stark satellite network.

He must’ve taken too long to recall everything, because Allison’s warm smile started to fade into a look of borderline disgust.

“Oh no!” He blurted as he realized it probably looked like that he was wrapping up a one night stand, “I just haven’t been getting much sleep lately and it must’ve caught up with me last night.”

She gave him a skeptical look, but accepted the answer. After all, surely she must realize that he was a busy man, despite his past reputation as being a bit of a playboy.

“So,” Tony cleared his throat as if to change the subject as they began the trek down the hall to the elevator together, “what’s the plan now that you’re the fastest American marathoner?”

“Vacation time,” she reached out and lazily pressed the down button for the elevator.

“Oh? Where to?”

The doors opened, and Allison crossed the threshold with a limp that served as a reminder of yesterday’s victory.

“The girls and I are going to Cabo, and I don’t plan on standing up the entire time I’m there,” she held her arm out to hold the door as Tony followed her in.

“What a coincidence,” he smirked as the idea began to take shape in his mind, “I was also planning on not standing in Cabo all next week, and maybe even the next.”

“No you weren’t,” she raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Honest,” he held his hand up to his arc reactor, “did you not hear me say how sleep-deprived I am? I have a beach house there, and was planning a little decompress sesh by the beach.”

“Uh huh,” she rolled her eyes and took a step towards the doors as she felt the elevator slow to a stop.

The doors opened and Allison was met once again by cheers, high fives, pats on the back, and the like from any and all passers by in the hotel lobby.

“What? No love?” Tony asked as he stepped out into the foyer, where no one even batted an eye at him, “I’m only Iron Man.”

Allison quickly made her way over to where Shalane, Des, and Jordan were standing across the room, already checked out with luggage ready to go.

Shalane cocked an eyebrow at Allison as she spied Tony following closely behind her.

Allison shot her a sheepish grin as if to say, “it’s not what you think”.

“Tony, what a lovely surprise,” Shalane shot both of them a smirk.

“I hear you ladies are going to Cabo,” Tony ignored the knowing looks the girls were giving him. “How would you feel about staying at my beach house?”

Allison felt her stomach do somersaults, she had handled the previous night well, but she couldn’t even imagine spending the next two weeks with this man that she barely even knew in a foreign country. The whole thing was too out of her realm.

“That’s really sweet Tony, bu-“ 

“We’d love to!” Shalane spat out before Allison had the chance to decline.

Allison shot daggers at her blonde teammate and mouthed “WHAT THE FUCK” at her over Tony’s shoulder.

“Excellent, I will call a car for you guys, and I will meet you at Logan International in say,” he held up his wrist and pretended to observe the time, “one hour?”

“Tony we really can’t acce-“

“It’s a date!” Shalane interrupted once again, sending a subtle wink Allison’s way.

Allison rolled her eyes so far back into her skull, she felt as if they would come full circle.

“Lovely,” Tony gestured to the door, as a black Town Car pulled up, almost as if on queue. 

Tony waited patiently for the car to drive off with the girls in tow before pulling out his cell phone and dialing.

“Change of plans,” he breathed into the mouth piece, “set the flight plan for Cabo and update the manifest. Oh, and prepare the beach house for guests.”

He chuckled to himself as he hung the phone up.

“Worked like a charm.”

He’d had to think on his feet to pull it off, but he knew he was likely to get a positive response if he asked the group rather than just Allison. Her friends had been anything but subtle the night before, so he tactfully held off asking until he was in their presence, knowing that they would take him up on his offer before Allison could get the chance to decline.

“Still got it,” he sighed as Happy pulled up in the Town Car meant for him.

He was still grinning from ear to ear as he slid into the back seat.

“So I hear there’s been a change of plans?” All Tony could see was Happy’s raised eyebrow in the rearview mirror.

“Even Iron Man needs a vacation every now and then,” Tony uttered casually as he gazed out of the tinted window.

“With four guests? Taking it easy this time, boss?” Tony could hear the sarcasm in Happy’s voice.

“You know that’s not who I am anymore,” he tore his gaze away to meet his friend’s eyes in the mirror. “If I had it my way, it would only be one guest, but I’m afraid they come in a set.”

He couldn’t blame her. She was being rational, this wasn’t a situation that many people found themselves in. She didn’t know him, and he knew how men in power typically treated young women. To be honest, he wasn’t sure what it was inside of him that made him take that leap, all he knew is that he didn’t want his time with her to end so soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allison’s legs were screaming at her with each step she took across the tarmac, so much so, that her limp had become much more pronounced.

Why Shalane had agreed to go to Cabo with this guy was beyond her, and of course he had insisted on flying all five of them there in his own private jet. Hence the tarmac trek.

Her eyes scanned the runway until they focused on Tony Stark standing in the doorway of the plane, at the top of the airstairs not one hundred feet away from where she stood.

Once they approached the base of the stairs she heard him call out, “c’mon Tiny Tim!”

Gesturing to the three other women around her, who were also limping, Allison shouted back, “I’m not the only one struggling here!”

“No, but you are certainly struggling the most,” he teased as she slowly ascended the steps, he held out a hand to help her with the last step across the threshold. 

Naturally, the uneven part where the stairs met the doorway took her by surprise, causing her to stumble clumsily right into Tony’s arms.

“Well,” she looked up at him with fierce golden eyes, and blew a loose strand of hair back out of her face. “It’s only fair, I ran the fastest yesterday.”

All three of the women behind her groaned as each one of them hefted their luggage over the threshold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wheels hadn’t even been up for ten minutes before Allison found her eyelids getting heavy, and the fact that the jet was decked out with the most comfortable seats she had ever sat on wasn’t doing her any favors either. 

“Excuse me, ma’am?” Her eyes shot open to see Tony Stark, drink in hand, standing right in front of her. “Is this seat taken?”

Allison lazily shook her head and sat up straight.

“Drink?” He gestured toward the minibar situated across the aisle from them.

Allison let out a quiet chuckle, “no thanks. Then I would definitely pass out.”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” He raised an eyebrow at her, remembering her schedule over the past few days as well as the months of intense training she had endured. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she had slept for a month straight.

“I believe that would make me poor company,” she pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders. Why the fuck did it feel like the Antarctic in here?

Tony motioned for a stewardess and whispered something in her ear, as she left he continued, “don’t be ridiculous Allison. You’ve got to be exhausted. You ran 26.2 miles yesterday at record pace, and I happen to know exactly how many hours of sleep you got last night.”

Allison winced as she remembered stumbling upon him in the hotel hallway that morning, she couldn’t help but feel silly for getting upset when she had suspected he’d had a one night stand. She couldn’t even explain why she’d even felt anything at all.

Tony noticed the hesitation when he mentioned last night/this morning. He hated to admit it, but the fact that she had been a little upset at the insinuation that he had stayed the night with another woman at her hotel last night pleased him a little bit. Not that he wanted her to be upset, but in that moment she had begun to show her hand. Maybe she was feeling something too.

“Also,” Tony went on, “you’ve been training for how many months again?”

“Four months.”

“You run how many miles a week in training?”

“One hundred and twenty.”

She saw what he was getting at, but she still felt like a shitty guest for not being able to stay awake after he had gone out of his way for her and her friends.

“Rest, you need it. I’m not going anywhere,” when he said that his smile reached his eyes, and Allison couldn’t help but feel a bit weak.

The stewardess came back with something red and bulky in plastic wrapping and handed it to Tony.

“Thank you, Emily.” Tony nodded and began tearing into the plastic.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Stark.” The stewardess blushed and began making her way back to the front of the plane.

He stood and spread the big red blanket over Allison, bending over her to reach down to recline her seat. 

“Sweet dreams,” he winked.

Allison blushed, “thank you, Mr. Stark.”

Almost as soon as he had left her vision, she found herself giving into heavy eyelids. She curled up into a ball and rested her cheek in her upturned palm, and peacefully drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony had never been one for sappy stuff, so one could imagine how disgusted he was with himself as he watched her sleep from across the aisle. 

Sure, he barely knew Allison, but he couldn’t deny how beautiful she was now in front of him. He had really only seen two versions of her; intense, 5:15 minute/mile pace marathon running Allison, and completely shattered, exhausted, droopy eyelids Allison, There had been glimpses of sarcasm, intelligence, and genuine humor here and there, and he couldn’t wait to see more of that Allison. But for now, he was quite taken with “at peace” Allison.

The blanket had only been on about five minutes before she kicked it off, Tony didn’t even bother picking it up. Taking a sip from his drink he began to take in the sight of her. Long, dark brown waves fell over slumped shoulders, and inched down past her chest that was rising and falling steadily.

Her shirt had inched up ever so slightly to reveal olive colored skin stretched over toned abs hardened by miles and miles of running.

He bit his lip as his eyes danced across long legs that were lean and toned to the point of seeing quad separation even as she lay there. He didn’t put up much of a fight as his mind started to wander to places it probably shouldn’t have.

“Mr. Stark?” A familiar voice from out of his periphery startled him, and he crossed his legs so fast he nearly spilt a drop of single malt scotch on his designer jeans. Nearly.

His eyes shot up to meet the dark blue eyes of one of his guests.

“Mrs. Flanagan,” he managed a half smile, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I just came to check on my girl,” a smirk started to play at the corner of her mouth, “I can’t say I’m surprised to find you here too.”

“Are you trying to suggest something?” He cocked an eyebrow at her, “because I am not one for subtlety.”

“Clearly,” Shalane scoffed as she gestured around the jet. 

Tony took a long sip from his drink, doing everything in his power to avoid staring at Allison.

“I just wanted to thank you for the trip,” Shalane said earnestly.

“Don’t mention it, we just happened to be going to the same place,” Tony rubbed the back of his head, “figured I’d give you guys a lift.”

“And a place to stay?” Shalane asked skeptically.

“There’s only one way to experience Cabo, and that’s at Casa de Stark.”

“Must’ve been a good night, then,” she smirked.

Tony’s eyes grew wide as he remembered that Shalane didn’t know last night’s story, she had just seen him and Allison come down together.

“Oh that,” he felt a fush of embarrassment start to creep up his neck. “That’s not what you think.”

Shalane raised a skeptical eyebrow, “you guys didn’t?”

“Of course not, that’s not who I am anymore.” He had been through his kiss-and-tell phase, and even then he had enough couth to not falsely brag about conquests.

“Then why are you doing all of this for us?”

“This is a little unorthodox, isn’t it?” He felt his defenses starting to fall.

“A little,” Shalane nodded, she plopped down in the seat next to him.

“I promise I don’t have any ulterior motives, I just wanted more time with her.”

“So you weren’t already going to Cabo?”

Tony sighed, “look, I really did need the break. When I saw you guys racing yesterday, that was the first time I had thought about something other than artificial intelligence in months.”

Shalane watched him with concerned eyes.

“Allison mentioned you guys were going to Cabo, I have a beach house in Cabo,” Tony took a long drink, “it just worked out.”

“You have to know how this looks,” Shalane stated matter-of-factly.

“Billionaire, ex-playboy whisks young, star athlete off to Mexico,” admittedly, it was not a good headline, even for him, “yeah, you have a point.”

“I like you, Mr. Stark, I really do,” Shalane got up to leave, but before she walked away she bent down to whisper in Tony’s ear, “but if you hurt her, I will cut your balls off and use them to roll out my IT bands.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allison had started to thrash and whimper in her sleep, her dream had taken a turn for the worst, as she dreamed of the race from the day before. She dreamed that she had tripped and fallen a few feet from the finish line, and Edna Kiplagat had been the one to break the tape that day instead of her.

She hadn’t been the hero of the day, in fact, she had let the country, her team, and Tony down. As he walked over to her to place the medal around her neck, he gave her a look of indifference, as if she wasn’t even there.

“Congratulations, what was your name again?” He asked in a bored tone, “Ashley? Amber? Allison?”

“Allison. Allison. Allison!”

Tony’s voice grew louder and shook her awake violently. 

“Allison?” His voice sounded genuinely concerned, but his eyes softened when he saw that she was awake. “You were… restless to say the least. Bad dream?”

“You could say that,” she sat up and began rubbing the sleep from her eyes, “I dreamed that I lost yesterday.”

“Oh,” he let out a sigh of relief, “that’s all?”

“Hey now,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “winning Boston means everything to me.”

“So I’ve heard,” he scoffed.

“How much longer?” She stifled a yawn and looked out of the window. 

“About two hours,” Tony sat back down, and went back to nursing his drink.

Allison nodded and resumed looking out of the window. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence for a while, Tony lost in thought over EDITH, and Allison looking out of the window reflecting on just how crazy the past couple of days had been. She never thought she would win Boston, meet Tony Stark, and go to Cabo with him all in just two days. Maybe that’s just the pace with which life moved for Tony Stark.

After about fifteen minutes, Allison broke the silence by letting out a heavy sigh.

“There’s nary a cloud in the sky,” she mused lazily, “except for over there, and over there,” she turned her head once more, “and over there… never mind.”

She had shaken Tony from whatever trance he had been in, he couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh. “What was that, kid?”

Allison grinned, “couldn’t help myself, had to break the silence.”

“Consider it sufficiently broken.”

“My mom genuinely said that once on a road trip, and we give her constant hell about it to this day.”

“I’m guessing the apple fell right where she dropped it?”

She shrugged, “What can I say? I come by it honestly.”

Allison spied what looked like a pair of very stylish glasses poking out of Tony’s jacket pocket.

“Now those are hip,” she pointed.

“Oh these,” Tony patted his pocket, “These are my pride and joy.”

“You really take fashion seriously, huh?”

“That’s not what I meant, and yes, I do.”

“Oh?” 

“Look,” Tony was beginning to cave, “this is top secret, so you keep those pretty lips of yours zipped, okay?”

Allison put her hand to her mouth and mockingly zipped her lips.

He reached in his pocket and pulled the glasses out.

“This is EDITH,” Tony spoke quietly. Even though this was his private jet, he still didn’t fully trust everyone on it.

“Edith?” Allison gave him a quizzical look.

“You see, these glasses,” he held them up with pride, “give me portable access to the entire Stark satellite network.”

Allison’s eyes narrowed as she processed the information.

“It’s like wearing my own personal home base. The information I would have access to out in the field is astronomical, possibly life-saving. I’m making them for a colleague, but I still have some tweaks to make. I also figured I should at least test them out, ya know, for science and stuff.”

Allison let a smile creep over her face, she was enjoying watching him truly geek out. 

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh it’s nothing,” she spoke calmly, “I just imagine that Tony Stark doesn’t geek out often, but when he does, he geeks out hard.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the ride flew by as Allison encouraged Tony to talk more about his projects. Most of it was over Allison’s head, but that didn’t stop her from asking questions to attempt to understand. Being one to geek out herself, she loved listening to others do the same. She imagined this was how she sounded when she was talking about running.

Tony wasn’t used to being asked about his projects by someone who had no interest in exploiting them in some way, so it took some coaxing to get him to open up.

“So you’re telling me that Tony Stark, Earth’s best defender, and genius extraordinaire, doesn’t have anything else he’s working on?” 

“Well, when you put it like that…”

And he was off talking ninety miles per hour about everything from updating Rhodey’s leg-wear, to restoring an old 1972 Mach One, to various suit upgrades, and Allison couldn’t help but feel excited as well, despite not knowing half of the words he was saying.

With a degree in biology, and a minor in chemistry, Allison was no stranger to science, engineering was just a different world. Her ears did perk up when Stark mentioned his friend, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes’ legs, as she did have a deep understanding of the biomechanics of running/walking, but before she could start that conversation, Tony was on to the next thing, and she was swept up in it all.

Time flew by, before she knew it they were landing, and the girls were bombarding hers and Tony’s end of the plane, luggage a-blazing.

She gathered her own bags, and got in line behind the others, as they followed Tony to the door. As he approached the mini-bar, he tilted his head back and swallowed what was left of his scotch, and set the glass on the bar.

“We get it, you drink,” Allison shouted playfully from the back of the line.

“That’s enough out of you Lieutenant Dan,” Tony shot back, and posted up near the doorway.

Allison groaned and continued to limp towards the door behind the others, pausing to turn and face Tony, “Lieutenant Dan didn’t have legs.”

“He had prosthetic legs at the end of the movie, and even he did a better job of walking than you are now,” he said with a smirk.

Allison rolled her eyes and stepped out onto the tarmac where she was met by a blinding ray of sunshine, she had no idea what to expect from here on out, but she had the sneaking suspicion that the next couple of weeks were going to be interesting.


	4. Wonderful Tonight

Allison stood at a loss for words in the doorway of Tony’s gigantic mansion of a “beach house”. It had to have had at least ten bedrooms, and at least seven bathrooms. The ratio was unclear, she just knew it was a lot, the whole situation was a lot. He also wasn’t lying about the beach part of “beach house”, as it was literally right on its own private section of beautiful white sands that dissolved into sapphire waves.

If Allison were describing it to anyone else, she would’ve said that it was basically just a private resort. With such amenities as a pool with a fully staffed swim-up bar, a sand volleyball court, a Jacuzzi, sauna, tennis courts, and so much more. It was starting to make Allison’s head spin. She was beginning to feel like she wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

“I thought you said it was a beach house?” Allison asked, all of a sudden feeling very small.

“It’s a house, and it’s on the beach,” Tony shrugged.

“This is a palace,” Allison stumbled further into the foyer with all of the grace of a newborn deer.

Tony’s phone started to buzz, and he let out a dreadful sigh as he read the name that flashed across the screen, “make yourselves at home, choose any room you’d like, I’m sorry but I’ve got to take this.”

“Miss me, Pep?” He chuckled into the mouthpiece as he ducked into the nearest room, which just so happened to be an office.

“What the hell, Tony?” A shrill voice on the other end of the line barked. “Cabo!? What about your 2:00 meeting? Or your presentation in D.C. on Thursday? Or any of your other your prior commitments that you just shirked off at the last minute to do god-knows-what?”

Pepper Potts had been Tony’s right hand woman since the beginning, she was loyal, trustworthy, and most importantly, not afraid to call him out on his bullshit. All of these were reasons why he appointed her CEO of Stark Industries.

“Easy, Pep. Calm down.”

“Do not tell me to calm down, Anthony Stark.” He could hear the venom in her voice. He knew he fucked up. “I called Happy, no answer, I called Rhodey, I even called Steve. Nothing.”

“Then how’d you- wait, you called Ste-?“ Tony started, but he was cut off.

“And then I remembered, I’m the CEO, and I have access to the company jet’s manifest.”

“Right,” Tony thought to himself.

“With three female guests.”

“One’s name is Jordan, could go either way,” he was trying to talk himself out of this one, that rarely worked with Pepper.

“I thought you had outgrown that.”

“Honestly, Pepper. I just had to get away, and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t ride my ass about this,” he snapped, and was met by silence on the other end.

He and Pepper had always been close, she had been there for him when he was at his worst, and played a big part of getting him to be his best. He knew she was just trying her best to take care of his company, but damn it, he had earned a vacation. Besides, it’s not like he didn’t have a lab underneath the beach house, so it wouldn’t be all play and no work.

Pepper sighed, “I just wish you’d give me a few days notice, or maybe next time just a phone call before you take off so I don’t have to go through the panic of possibly losing you again.”

“Your sentiment is showing.” He smirked.

“Screw you, you jerk.” He could hear her start to laugh.

“I’ll be back in a couple of weeks, Pep. Take care of my company.”

“Oh I’m totally tanking this whole business.”

“Fair enough, bye Potts.”

“Bye Tony.”

The line ended with a click, and Tony sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He had that one coming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allison kicked off her Nikes and flopped onto the bed with a soft thud, mentally kicking herself for choosing a room on the second floor. Climbing up the stairs wasn’t a problem, but she just knew she was going to have hell getting down. Why did Boston have to be a net downhill race?

A soft “ahem” grabbed her attention, and she rolled over to see Tony leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest, with a bemused grin across his face.

“Settling in alright?”

She rolled over further onto her stomach and smirked, “you could say that. So is this where you take all of the girls?”

Tony sighed and fell down onto the bed beside her.

“Actually, I usually take them to my castle in Scotland, but you just had to go to Cabo. I’m afraid you got the short end of the stick, kid.”

“Hmm” she stroked her chin in mock thought, “will you take me if I make the Olympic team?”

She was obviously joking, but a part of her liked the idea that Tony might still be in her life come February of next year.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he sighed. “I mean, I guess that’s enough of an achievement to make you worthy.”

She sat up in bed and looked stoically into the distance, “then I know what I must do.”

“What’s that,” he mused, propping his head up with his hand as he rolled over onto his side.

“I must train until my legs actually fall off.”

“I think they’re well on their way,” he poked her left thigh playfully, but quickly recoiled as he watched her wince in pain.

“I’m totally fine,” Allison breathed trying to put on her best ‘I’m not in pain’ smile but it did little to convince Tony.

“You do know I’m a genius, right?” he took her left leg in his hands and gently began massaging it. “Sorry, I was staring at them the whole flight, I just had to touch.”

“Oh it hurts so good,” Allison hissed through her clenched jaw.

Tony listened patiently and allowed her to guide his hands, showing him just exactly what to do.

“You’re not going to like this,” she sighed as she placed his index and middle finger on the outside of her knee.

“Okay?”

“Now press down as hard as you can.”

He obeyed, as Allison began to move his hand up the side of her leg agonizingly slow. She bit her lip closed her eyes tightly, obviously in pain. Whatever Tony was pressing on was as hard as a rock, it must’ve been a tendon of some sort that ran up the side of her leg, and all he wanted to do was stop because he could tell he was hurting her.

“Keep going,” she encouraged, sensing his hesitation, eyes still shut and jaw still clenched.

Tony hesitantly continued inching up the length of her thigh.

“If this wasn’t hurting her, this would be kind of hot,” he thought to himself.

He finally reached the top of her hip, and Allison let out a sigh of relief as she opened her eyes for the first time since it began.

“What did you just make me do to you?” He withdrew his hand quickly, his eyes wide.

“You just massaged my IT bands, and helped prevent future injury,” she winked at him in amusement.

“You sure I didn’t do any damage, it sure looked like I did,” he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

“You were flawless.”

“You know, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allison, the girls, and Tony spent the first day at the Stark resort (or at least that’s what they had started calling it) lounging around on the beach with cocktails in their hands. Tony couldn’t help but make fun of Allison’s blinding runner tan lines as she walked out in her bikini.

“Oh my god, those are hilarious,” he nearly fell out of the sun chair laughing.

“What?” She self-consciously covered herself with her towel.

“Oh honey, trust me, you look stunning, but those tan lines are something else.” He pointed first at her wrist where there was a visible white strip where her watch usually was, then to her sock tan line, and lastly to her shorts tan line.

“At least you can tell I go outside,” she scoffed. “Unlike you, ghost boy.”

The five of them had a great time relaxing, playing in the ocean, and even playing a little bit of sand volleyball. Or at least Tony watched and laughed as the four of them struggled through a half-assed game of two on two, which only resulted in the four of them giving up and hobbling over to cabana bar, looking like a gaggle of peg-legged pirates.

Tony dipped out early to go to the lab and tinker with EDITH, and not long after that the other four also made their way inside.

Allison found herself face-to-face with a slew of gadgets and touch-screens as she entered her bathroom to take a shower.

“Hello, miss,” a posh, disembodied English voice nearly made her jump out of her skin. “I am JARVIS, please let me know if you require any assistance.”

“Uh hi JARVIS,” she spoke timidly, and pulled her towel tighter around her. “You can’t see me, right?”

“No, madam, I am an intelligence system developed by Mr. Stark to assist him with whatever he should need.”

“Oh, I suppose that’s pretty cool.” She relaxed, “say, JARVIS, you wouldn’t happen to know how I could turn this shower on, would you?”

“If you’ll look to your left at the touch screen in the wall, you’ll want to use the function labeled M16.”

Allison leaned in to get a better look at the screen and saw that there was what seemed like hundreds of functions labeled with different letters and numbers. She haphazardly pressed what looked like the M16 key and was met with a loud paging noise.

“Hello?” A familiar voice spilled over the intercom.

“Mr. Stark?” She had never been more confused.

“God?”

“Allison. Um, I-I was trying to turn the shower on?” She stuttered. “But apparently I don’t know how to operate this spaceship of a house.”

“Oh, you must’ve pressed µ16, not M16. Try that.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“But don’t forget to end the-“

But he was cutoff by the sound of running water and the closing of a door.

“Call first.” He finished, holding his forehead in his palm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allison stepped inside and was met with a warm, cascading waterfall that fell steadily from the ceiling, and projected images of a rainforest that surrounded her. She marveled at the absurdity of it all, but enjoyed herself nonetheless.

A screen shined on the opposite end of the immense shower, and Allison was immediately drawn to it. Upon closer inspection, Allison could see that it was her playlist from her phone, which bewildered her to no end. Yet, despite being skeptical of how it got there, she made her selection, which was “Top Jimmy” by Van Halen, and the scene around her instantly transformed into live footage of a Van Halen concert, where she was met by David Lee Roth doing the splits in front of her. She couldn’t help herself, she just had to let loose.

“Sir, would you like me to end the connection?” JARVIS cut into Tony’s train of thought. He had been listening intently to Allison’s voice belting out the Van Halen classic.

“That won’t be necessary JARVIS.” 

He sat back and listened, amused by her playlist which bounced around from Guns N’ Roses, to Aerosmith, Sammy Hagar, and all the way over to Black Sabbath. Out of curiosity, he used EDITH to access her music library, and chuckled softly when he saw that she was currently listening to a playlist labeled “Headbangerz and Facemelters”, which contained just about all of the music he, himself, loved.

He dove further into her running playlist, her “Men Ain’t Shit” playlist, which consisted of mostly ABBA bops, and her “Issa Vibe” playlist which was mainly Bob Dylan and the like. Curious indeed.

Once she had had her fill of the shower shenanigans, she finally managed to shut the shower off, after a number of tries.

“JARVIS, how do I turn it off?”

“Allow me, madam.”

The waterfall ceased, and she was left naked and cold.

“Thank you,” she chattered.

“You’re welcome, madam.”

She opened the door and grabbed a towel, and for a second she thought she heard a ruffling noise, and then what sounded like a click.

“Surely not,” she thought as she dressed quickly.

She stumbled out of the bathroom, still half soaked, and limped down the stairs, all the way down to Tony’s lab.

Minutes after closing the line, he was met with a loud pounding on the door of his lab. 

“JARVIS?”

“I did warn you, sir.”

He sighed, “open it.”

An extremely livid Allison came storming in, limp and all.

“Ah, if it isn’t Frankenstein’s monster, herself,” he teased, “you put on quite the concert by the way.”

“You listened in on me?” Her face was starting to redden.

“Hey, I did tell you to end the call beforehand, but what do I know? I only designed the technology.”

“I heard you end it once I got out, you could’ve done it the entire time.”

Tony shrugged casually, “I could’ve, but it was so gosh darn cute.” He made like he was going to pinch her cheek.

Allison swatted his hand away.

“You couldn’t see me, right?”

“Oh I could if I wanted to, but I am nothing if not a gentleman.”

This did very little to make Allison feel better.

“I think it’s adorable that you listen to dad music by the way.”

“I do not listen to dad music.”

“Van Halen? Black Sabbath? Dad music.”

“Which brings up my next point. How the fuck did your shower have my playlist queued up and ready to go?”

“Ah,” a knowing smile crept across Tony’s face. “That’s EDITH, she’s able to access all of the information on anyone’s phone within a fifteen mile radius.”

“Oh Tony,” Allison shook her head in disbelief. “No.”

“Voice recognition, and location were accessed by JARVIS, and EDITH was able to piece the rest together,” his face lit up like a proud dad.

“Don’t you think that’s like… a gross invasion of privacy?” She felt the rage welling up inside of her.

“Not when safety is at stake.”

“But I’m fine?” He wasn’t making any sense, and she found herself nose-to-nose with him, cheeks flushed with anger. “You can’t just do that.”

He paused, taking a second to look from her eyes, down to her lips, and back. Contemplating.

“You also consented to having your information accessed when you signed the waiver when we first arrived, remember?” He took a step back and gave her a smug look.

“Oh come on, no one reads those things. Not in this day and age, old man.” She was starting to lighten up as she watched him flinch at being called old.

“Well, maybe that’ll teach you to read the terms and conditions,” he playfully booped her nose.

“If I may interrupt,” JARVIS’ voice cut in. “A Miss Flanagan has been paging your room, madam.”

Allison’s eyes widened as she glanced down at her watch, which read 9:13.

“Fuck, I’ve gotta go.”

“So soon? You only just got here.” He smirked.

She shot him an icy look. “We’re having a girl’s night out, and I am running a little bit behind if you must know.”

“Girls night, huh? As in, no boys allowed?”

“I mean, you’re welcome to join us if you want, I just didn’t think it would be your scene.” She raised an eyebrow. “Dancing, loud music, lots of alcohol… Okay, maybe it is your scene.”

“As lovely as that sounds, I think I’m going to stay in and work on a few things. Thank you though.” He gave her a soft smile.

“Suit yourself,” she nodded before turning and bounding up the steps.

She wasn’t sure how she did it, but she managed to get ready in twenty seven minutes, giving her five minutes to spare. She let her hair fall in long, dark, natural waves over her shoulders down to the middle of her back. She wore a vintage white, laced spaghetti strap that stopped about half an inch above her navel, exposing a tanned and toned abdomen. With it she wore a short, pale green mini skirt and a pair of beige heels, which made her legs look even longer than they already were.

She gave herself a nod of approval as she took one more look in the mirror before stepping out into the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had occurred to Tony as he was working that he was actually ravenous, and that he hadn’t had any substantial food all day, so he meandered up to the kitchen to scrounge up anything he could find, which happened to be the best goddamn turkey sandwich he had ever had, or at least he was so hungry that’s what it felt like.

He wolfed down the sandwich in the blink of an eye, and sauntered back out into the foyer where three women dressed to the nines seemed to be waiting.

“Now this takes me back to my twenty seventh birthday. Minus a couple of girls.” He winked at the group.

“Hey, Mr. Stark,” Jordan spoke up, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red.

“We’re just waiting on the fourth musketeer,” Des chimed in, shifting uncomfortably in her tight, black dress.

There wasn’t much time in a professional distance runner’s life for going out, so each of the women was a little out of their element. This was even amplified by the fact that they were in the presence of a notorious playboy, but they were due for a girl’s night out. After months of training, on top of a grueling race, it was time to trade the Nikes for stilettos and let their hair down.

“I’m afraid that’s my fault, I was the one that held her up.” He raised his hands guiltily. “In fact, it’s probably best that I get out of here before I hold you guys up any longer.”

He turned on his heel and made for the staircase. When a pair of feet in heels entered the top of his periphery.

His eyes drifted up along her long, tan legs, over her exposed mid-drift and shoulders, and finally over the endless sea of dark waves that spilled over her shoulders.

She had stopped him in his tracks, and for once in his life he was speechless. He began to feel a tightness forming in the pit of his stomach.

Why wasn’t he going again? He thought to himself. Oh, right. Playing it cool. How’s that working out for you, you dunce? There’s no way she’s coming back alone looking like that.

“Mr. Stark,” Allison nodded at Tony before making her way down the stairs, infinitely more graceful than Tony had witnessed that entire day.

Tony was speechless. “Oh!” he thought to himself, “shit, she’s talking to me.”

“I uh-“ he stammered. “Hi.”

Hi? Come on Tony, this isn’t high school. You can do better than that.

“I mean,” he cleared his throat. “You ladies look great.”

“That means a lot coming from the expert,” Allison smirked, relishing the fact that for once Tony Stark was at a loss for words.

“If being an expert in beautiful women is wrong, then I don’t want to be right,” he shrugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The group had headed out just before the clock struck 10:00, and Tony found himself back down in the lab attempting to work on his design for EDITH, but he found himself not really getting anywhere. All he could think about was Allison as she stepped into his line of vision at the top of the stairs. Mentally kicking himself for passing on the opportunity to join her and her friends on what was sure to be a fun night.

“You literally invited her to your house. In Cabo. Why are you playing it cool now?” He spoke out loud to himself, pulling at his hair in frustration.

“JARVIS?”

“Sir.”

“Think we could track her location using her cell phone?”

“I wouldn’t advise it, sir.”

“I just want to know, for safety reasons.” He wasn’t completely lying, it was always a good idea to let someone know your location on a night out. But mainly he was just trying to think up an elaborate plan for possibly accidentally bumping into Allison.

A translucent screen popped up in front of Tony’s face displaying a map of the area, and a pin dropped about two miles away.

“Madam is at Flamingo’s, about two miles East of here.”

“Ah, always a favorite.” He swished the screen away with his hand and made for the door to the lab.

“JARVIS, get me Happy.”

The phone had barely even rung once before Happy Hogan picked up.

“Yes, boss?” 

“Happy, cancel your plans, because I am actually going to require your services tonight.” Tony had reached his bedroom, which took up the entire third floor. “Meet me out front in twenty minutes.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony had gone through about five outfits in ten minutes before settling on a classic look, a tailored black suit, with a satin purple button down underneath with the pocket square to match. The remaining ten minutes were dedicated entirely to his hair, as he inspected it closely in the mirror to make sure there wasn’t a strand out of place.

As a finishing touch he slid his EDITH sunglasses on, which displayed a translucent screen like the one that popped up in his lab, the one that displayed Allison’s location.

“Good, now don’t move,” he spoke softly to himself as he made his way downstairs.

Like clockwork, Happy was waiting for him in the driveway when he stepped through the front door. 

“Mr. Stark, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening?” Happy’s voice held an air of sarcasm as he held the car door open, but Tony ignored it.

“I just thought it was time the two of us should hit the clubs again, you know, like old times, bonding and whatnot,” he smirked as he slid across the leather-clad back seat.

Happy shut the door and groaned. He seemed to not-so-fondly recall those infamous days when they would “hit the clubs”. And by hit the clubs, that meant that Tony would get absolutely sloshed, pick up a girl, and Happy would have to stand guard outside the door which did little to stifle the noises.

“Where to?” Happy sighed as he buckled his seatbelt.

“Just hit the strip, we’ll see where they go from there.” Tony just looked out of the window, as if he had a plan brewing.

Happy cocked an eyebrow at Tony in the rearview mirror, but put the car in drive without saying another word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they pulled out onto Cabo’s main street which was surrounded by neon lights, and buzzing from the bass pumping from the various buildings, Tony checked the screen once more. Sure enough, the signal was still coming from Flamingo’s, a building that stood in the center of the street. 

It was a multi-story club, which stood out because of the neon Flamingo that stood the length of the building, you couldn’t miss it.

Happy let him out at the front door, and the bouncer let him in without so much as a word despite the awestricken line he had left in the dust.

“Oh yeah, still got it,” he smirked to himself as he made a B-line for the bar.

He scanned the dance floor and balconies as he took a sip of his drink, pausing to run a scan through EDITH to check various incoming and outgoing text messages in the area. Nothing of interest, except an alarming amount of dick pics. Some things will never be unseen.

As he tried to shake the phallic images from his brain something, or rather, someone caught his eye. After today, he could honestly say he’d recognize those legs anywhere, and there they were, attached to the girl dancing right smack in the middle of the dance floor to an old Selena song.

She was truly beautiful, all made up and care-free, dancing in the middle of a huge crowd, one almost wouldn’t know what an intense endurance machine she was. He chuckled as he caught glimpses of her limping here and there, but she didn’t let that stop her. He imagined with her body’s physical capability being her sole source of income, that seeing her out dancing and having a good time was a rare sight, but it was a sight worth seeing.

As the song came to an end, he noticed that Allison had started walking towards the bar, with a tall, handsome guy following closely behind.

“Who the fuck is that?” Tony thought as he sipped his drink. He wasn’t too familiar with jealousy, but he recognized the warning signs.

Tony tried his best to hide his face as the two settled in at the opposite side of the bar. He felt his neck and face grow hot, and all of a sudden he felt sick to his stomach as he watched.

She leaned against the bar and ordered a drink, and he noticed this guy snake an arm around her waist as he whispered something in her ear. Tony’s jaw was clenched so tightly.

As the bartender brought them their drinks, the man whirled her around and brought her lips up to his, and at this point Tony was just trying to keep the nausea at bay.

Until, that is, he saw the man’s hand appear behind her back, and drop something into her drink.

“Oh fuck no,” Tony accidentally said out loud. He shot up so fast, he nearly knocked a waitress that was walking by over. But he quickly picked himself up and marched over to where they were.

A look of horror passed over Allison’s face as she opened her eyes and saw Tony standing there, arms crossed, and a scowl on his face.

“Tony,” she pushed the guy away from her. “What the fuck?”

Tony hesitated, he had spent the whole car ride coming up with smooth and clever things to say. Now that all he could see was red, he was drawing a blank.

“Look I-“

“Did you follow me?” Her eyes were shooting daggers. 

“You told me this was where you were going,” he looked down at the floors and then back up at her, “ but I might’ve tracked you to make sure you were still here. And it’s a good thing I did.”

He clenched his jaw and gave the guy next to her a venomous look.

“You might want to check your drink.”

The blood drained from Allison’s face as she turned around to see a pill sizzling in her cup, she immediately shoved the guy away from her, but not before he caught her wrist and yanked her back to him.

Before he even had time to think, Tony’s fist came flying out of nowhere and landed square against the man’s cheek.

The roar from the bar area grew as Tony and the nameless man brawled, each one answering the other’s blow with an even harder one. It took about four big men to come in and break it up, but when Allison was able to explain what had happened, the fighting started back up again, this time between the four men and roofie dude.

She grabbed Tony’s hand before he had the chance to get caught in the middle once more, and led him out onto the dance floor, where a fast song was ending, and a slow one was starting up. This time Tony didn’t hesitate, and he pulled her in close to him as they began to sway to the music.

“I’m sorry I tracked you,” Tony finally spoke up. “Honestly, when I saw you at the top of the stairs, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend the evening with you.” 

“So you didn’t just come here to protect me from ruffians?” She smirked.

“I admit it, I had other motives,” his eyes softened as they met hers.

“All pure, I’m sure.”

“Oh I assure you, they were not.” He smiled down at her. 

“Thank you, Tony.” She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned and caught her lips with his, and they both felt the world melt away as they kissed in the middle of the dance floor.


End file.
